AI & automation
Ask AI for an answer you can check.
A fluent answer can still be wrong. For work that matters, the useful output is a draft with a trail you can inspect: what it used, what it inferred and what it could not establish.
Give it a bounded job
“Improve my business” leaves almost everything unspecified. “Summarize these three approved process notes, identify repeated steps, and propose one change for review” has a visible scope.
Choose material you are allowed to share. Remove secrets and personal information that the task does not need. An assistant does not need full access to your systems to help improve a checklist.
Keep evidence separate from suggestions
Ask for three parts: observations supported by the supplied material, proposed changes, and unanswered questions. Request a source section for each observation. Check those references yourself; a plausible citation is not proof.
If the source says a report is prepared weekly, the assistant may suggest automating it. It cannot infer that the report is accurate, essential, or expensive to produce unless that information is supplied.
Use this starting prompt
Review the process notes below. Use only these notes for factual claims. List repeated steps with their source section. Suggest one small change, label assumptions, and explain one way it could fail. Do not invent costs, outcomes or missing details. End with the questions I should answer before acting.
Treat this as a starting structure, not a guarantee. If the response omits uncertainty or introduces unsupported facts, revise or discard it.
Check the parts that matter most
Review calculations, names, dates and instructions that could change a system. For code, inspect the diff and test against sample inputs before using real records. For a process change, walk through one normal case and one exception.
- Can I locate the source of each important claim?
- Are facts, assumptions and recommendations visibly different?
- What would happen if this instruction were followed literally?
- What is the smallest reversible test?
Keep the useful artifact
Save the reviewed checklist or procedure with its source and date. A long conversation is harder to reuse than a short, corrected document. Revisit it when the process changes rather than assuming the first answer stays valid.
The aim is to reduce repetitive drafting while keeping the final judgment with someone who understands the work.
General educational guidance. Adapt it to your environment, permissions and risk. Examples are illustrative unless identified as project history.
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